New computer set-up? What is involved?

[razz]

My older Acer Aspire laptop is arguing with me. I have had a tech look at it. He helped somewhat but he didn't solve the problem of being unable to download the updates from Microsoft. I have been in contact with MS support but that has not helped much either. They want $100 to 150 to provide more direct help. It is 283MB of update for MS office Suite. Everything else is backing up and stuck behind that big download.

Other things are going funny as well so am thinking about getting a new laptop.

I stopped in Best Buy and there is a nice HP Pavilion laptop but they want $150 just for the set-up. If I have saved everything to a separate hard drive, what is involved in setting up a new computer? Any advice and suggestions appreciated.

[JaneV2.0]

I think it's just a matter of plugging it in and turning it on. The cables are usually color coded or shape-specific, and there are precious few of them on a laptop. I've always set up my own computers--for about 20 years now--and I haven't had any problems. If you have a portable backup like Clickfree, your files should load perfectly as long as you're running the applicable software. Good luck!

[ApatheticNoMore]

My older Acer Aspire laptop is arguing with me. I have had a tech look at it. He helped somewhat but he didn't solve the problem of being unable to download the updates from Microsoft. I have been in contact with MS support but that has not helped much either. They want $100 to 150 to provide more direct help. It is 283MB of update for MS office Suite. Everything else is backing up and stuck behind that big download.

Is is a fix of a vulnerability or a new version of MS Office? If it's a new version of MS Office couldn't you just buy a CD disk of a new version or just a CD disk of the upgrade from the store or from Microsoft itself (the Microsoft website - have one mailed to you)? Then you could install via CD disk instead of a slow download.


Other things are going funny as well so am thinking about getting a new laptop.

if may not be a terrible idea, I'm just asking if there are other options to try first. But those off-brand computers are often not very good to begin with sorry to say, they have very limited lifespans in many cases :\ They are definitely a "false economy" to ever buy in the first place, though I realize one wants to save an already paid for computer if they can.


I stopped in Best Buy and there is a nice HP Pavilion laptop but they want $150 just for the set-up. If I have saved everything to a separate hard drive, what is involved in setting up a new computer? Any advice and suggestions appreciated.

In most cases very little should be involved in setup. All that is involved in setting up a new computer is installing the previous programs on it (so if whatever programs you have installed came on CDs insert the CD and the program setup should run, or of they came from install downloads save the install downloads and run them). Any computer sold at the store should come with the operating system installed (usually Windows). So $150 for installing programs does seem like a ridiculous rip-off to me. Maybe you should try to do it yourself and if you can't then have it setup (or have the tech guy do it, doubt even he will charge that much). But Best Buy is ridiculous rip-off to begin with. Oh how I hate that store, the customer service is atrocious, everything there costs hundreds of dollars more than elsewhere (and I don't just mean than say Walmart where you really might be getting an inferior product, I mean than an office store like Staples for instance). Yea I think "Worst Buy" is a rip off :)

[Kestra]

I double checked with my computer guy husband and he agrees that set up is very little work and you should be able to do itself no problem. It's a ripoff. He reminded me that there is usually also a set-up guide and a 1-800 number if you need help.

[razz]

Good info to consider so thanks. Would an HP be a better computer or what make would last a few years without being quickly out of date?

[Rogar]

I would just suspect that to pay someone $150 for set up includes a few little details like transferring your personal files, book marks, and email address book to the new computer and setting up you email account. Those are the things that trip me up a little bit, but are not hugely difficult. Most new computers guide you though everything else when you turn them on. I've always ordered new computers from the internet, directly from Dell or from Amazon, but Best Buy seems to have decent selections and prices. I've never used the Geek Squad, but friends who have have always said positive things about them. They are just expensive. Best Buy always seems to push extended warranties and some sort of special support that are probably not worth the money. I'm no computer genius, but that's my take.

I have used local computer repair folks that operate out of little offices or shops for minor software problems. They usually don't charge a lot if it's something relatively simple. It could be a way to get a little more life out of you old computer, although at some point after 5 or 6 years everything is gets outdated and it's just time to go new.

[bUU]

Such small services are a ripoff for both sides. A friend of mine started a little computer help business when he was unemployed during the recession and eventually learned that he's better off not charging for small services like setting up a new computer because he couldn't charge enough to cover the cost of dealing with all the follow-up calls that the customer assumed was included. You're far better off finding a friend who can help you through the setup (though the friend may not be better off :)).

Acer is a good brand - not among the "off brands" that folks should avoid - but age affects all computers, and laptops especially. But your problems are OS, and so a new hard drive could remedy all your problems. The issue, of course, is getting all your data from the old hard drive to the new ($125 from Crucial for 240 GB), without copying over problems that there may be in your existing configuration. I'm lucky enough to have a friend who could lend me an external hard drive docking station ($25 from Amazon). That allowed me to copy the data from my old hard drive to my new hard drive without copying any of the settings.

Of course, not copying the settings means you need to go through the laborious work of connecting to every service again from scratch, installing any software that you had (though you had to do that anyway), etc. It's a lot of work but well worth it to get a few more year's usage out of a perfectly good laptop that simply needed a fresh start.

[ToomuchStuff]

I am not one to worry about brands, since it is more important what the components are. All brands have had duds. If you bought a Mercede's, for instance, and it had a Yugo motor and Fred Flinstone drivetrain, it would still be a Mercede's, just underpowered, with the driver overworked.
If you choose not to keep your old pc (at least for a while), then I would at the very least buy a USB hard drive and save all your files, bookmarks, etc. to it (you may have forgotten something otherwise). I have heard enough horror stories about "computer setups", where the stores have automatically done it (installing their adware) and in some cases, even tried to charge for it. (customer requested a new system in a sealed box) Most stuff people can figure out (I want these pictures, these office documents, etc), sometimes I have exported bookmarks and mailed them to myself (another computer), to the point I plan on setting up a webserver on a "children's computer" (Raspberry PI, $35 computer), that I can keep a full list. The things people forget, is they tend to "automatcially remember me", their login and password information for their emails, sites such as this, their firewall/router, etc.

I haven't ran Microsoft in a few years, but it used to be you could order an update cd/dvd from them (install locally or via home/work network was quicker). This was typically done by companies, so they could easily control what and when things were updated. Might see if you can order a update disc or download the updates as a file, to another computer and burn them to disc (also was done).